Iron Siblings
by Starling Strider
Summary: Tony and Natasha Stark have been best friends since Nat was born. They're inseparable and nothing can break them. But then they go halfway across the world for a weapons demonstration and nearly get killed by an organization called the Ten Rings. Their lives change forever in that cave and nothing will ever be the same for the Stark siblings. (I suck at summaries.)
1. Ceaser's Palace

**Hello lovelies! I hope you all really like this and if you do then you can thank the wonderful, talented, zombie Avengerlicious. Go check her out when you get the chance, she is an amazing writer. Also, go read madscientistavenger's work. They're both talented as heck and I want to prove that to them.**

Natasha Stark watched, smirking, as her brother gambled. He looked dressed to impress in a red dress shirt, dark pants, and designer sunglasses he insisted were acceptable to wear indoors. Natasha thought they were ridiculous, especially with his hair sleeked like that in what was definitely not his usual style, but she didn't exactly have room to talk. She sometimes wore accessories that didn't really fit the outfit and had, unfortunately, done her hair up in extravagant ways that probably should never have been done.

Tony shot his sister a grin before turning to a pretty brunette and launching into a charming flirting session with her. Another brunette grabbed her brother though and turned him away, claiming him for herself. Natasha very nearly snorted at that 'til she heard Rhodey's voice clear as a bell above the casino's noise. "You two are unbelievable." He said, sounding annoyed.

_"Time to use the old Stark charm." _Natasha thought before putting on a charming smile. "Rhodey, babe, when did you get here?!" She said cheerfully, walking over so she could throw an arm around their friend.

"I've been here for hours." Rhodey said. Oh yeah, he was _definitely _annoyed.

Tony broke away from the brunette and turned to Rhodey and his sister. "Oh no. Did they rope you into this?" He asked, staring up at his friend. His eyes were masked behind his sunglasses but Natasha had a feeling there was at least a bit of amusement in his eyes. It was probably a good thing he was wearing those ridiculous glasses then, Rhodey would get ticked if he saw Tony's eyes light up in silent laughter.

"Nobody roped me into anything." Rhodey said, frowning.

"We're so sorry." Tony said immediately.

Rhodey ignored Tony, something he usually did when the genius annoyed him. He couldn't do that with Natasha of course, she was too insistent. Tony Stark may demand attention and get it but Natasha was the one that could maintain it for as long as she wanted. "But they did tell me that if I presented you two with an award you would be deeply honored." Rhodey said, placing himself between Tony and the brunette.

Natasha easily switched from hanging onto their friend to leaning casually against her brother and smiling up at Rhodey. "Of _course _we'd be honored, Rhodey." She said sweetly.

"And it's you, that's great!" Tony added, as if Natasha hadn't just said that. "So when do we do it?" Tony asked, sounding ready to receive the award the second Rhodey told him when it was. Of course he knew the time to get it had already passed but he didn't let Rhodey know that. Natasha didn't either, she had wanted to go up in front of everyone and receive the award just as much as he had. Which was to say not at all.

"It's right here. Here you go." Rhodey said, handing the award over. Tony and Natasha both took it, something they'd done ever since they were kids. If one got handed something the other just had to get their paws on it. Neither one minded though, the Stark siblings shared nearly everything with each other.

"That was easy." Tony mumbled, staring at the award with boredom. Natasha smiled a bit, just enough for him to notice but not enough for Rhodey to see. "We are sorry." Tony added, looking back up at Rhodey.

Rhodey stared down at them for a beat, taking in their carefully practiced apologetic looks. "It's okay." He said, giving in like he always did.

Tony turned away instantly, forgetting the matter now that he was forgiven. "Wow, would you look at that? That's something else." He said, staring at the award as he handed it off to the brunette beside him. Natasha recognized his tone easily, he didn't actually care about the stupid thing. Neither of them did. It was just another piece of junk. Just another reminder of their many accomplishments. "We don't have any of those floating around." Tony said sarcastically, voicing Natasha's thoughts.

Natasha waited until her brother was gambling again before turning to Rhodey. "We really are sorry, Rhodey. You know how we are though." She said, not giving a reasonable excuse for their absence but pouring on enough charm to make that not matter. Rhodey watched her for a moment but finally sighed.

"Yeah, I know. Still, you guys managed yet again to embarrass me." Rhodey told her.

"Oh I'm sure we can make it up to you." Natasha said, waving her hand dismissively. She smiled up at their friend and wrapped her arms around his neck, leaning in as she did. "Am I forgiven Rhodey? You know I hate being on your bad side." She told him. Not exactly a lie but not exactly the truth either. She didn't mind being on Rhodey's bad side since he always forgave her eventually but they would have to travel with him via plane for hours tomorrow and she didn't really feel like not talking to him the whole flight. "You don't have to forgive Tony, you know. You could just forgive me." Natasha told him.

Rhodey chuckled. "Forgiving one Stark isn't possible. You two do practically everything together, if I forgive you I've got to forgive Tony too." He told her.

"Technically you already forgave Tony." Natasha pointed out.

"True." Rhodey said, smiling just slightly. "Alright Nat, you're forgiven." He told her.

Natasha smiled brilliantly up at Rhodey before finally releasing him and taking her place beside her brother. Normally if someone called her Nat she'd retaliate with a snarky remark and a vague threat but this was Rhodey. He was one of the three people allowed to call her that, the other two being her brother (_of course_) and Pepper. Obadiah wasn't allowed to call her Nat, it just sounded too weird coming from him.

"Give me a hand will ya? Give me a little something-something." Tony said, holding the dice in his hands up to the brunette beside him. Natasha rolled her eyes at the girl who immediately blew onto the dice but smiled when Tony offered them to Rhodey. "Come on, you two." He told their friend.

"I don't blow on a man's dice." Rhodey said, causing Natasha to let out a very unladylike snort.

"Come on, honey bear." Tony said jokingly but insistently. Rhodey shook his head and hit the dice out of Tony's hands. Tony immediately spun around to watch them roll, all the while exclaiming "There it is! Lieutenant Colonel Rhodes rolls! And...!"

Natasha winced, two craps. Definitely not the best roll Tony's ever made. Rhodey seemed a little pleased with himself and said "That's what happens." Natasha shook her head a bit but smiled especially when her brother didn't seem to care in the slightest.

"Worse things have happened." Tony stated, shooting a sly smile Natasha's way. She smiled wickedly back at him, remembering a few unforgettable times when the two of them had gotten into trouble. "I think we're gonna be fine. Color me up William." He said quickly.

"Oh wait so we're actually going home tonight?" Natasha asked jokingly, smiling stunningly when she heard Rhodey chuckle.

"Yep." Tony said, gathering up his chips. He pressed half of them into Natasha's hand before shoving them into his pocket. "There, for all the trauma I've caused you." He said jokingly.

Natasha grinned, slipping the chips into the stupid little purse she was carrying around. She didn't like carrying around the dumb things but they were useful for carrying chips and holding her car keys when she was in a dress. "Is that all I get?" She asked jokingly, slipping his jacket off of a nearby floozy. The woman nearly protested but one sharp look from Natasha was enough to silence her. Natasha passed the jacket to her brother who immediately put it on. "I think I deserve a little bit more than just this. You ruined my childhood, Tony." She said, grinning.

Tony shrugged but smirked a bit. "That's all I got. Call back in a week and we'll see." He told her. Natasha smiled, snatched their award from the brunette, and started walking.

Not surprisingly, Tony and Rhodey followed her immediately. Tony had never been really inclined to leave Natasha alone for too long and Rhodey still had more to tell them. He always did. That was the thing about Rhodey, he always had something important on his mind. Also not surprisingly, their little group of bodyguards and Happy followed behind them, doing their jobs with dedication. Natasha was dead certain no one would be able to attack them ever, especially not with Happy there. The guy was mildly terrifying when he wanted to be.

Rhodey and Tony chatted about what had happened at the awards ceremony while they walked, Natasha barely paying attention while they did. The award ceremonies meant nothing to the younger Stark genius and she let the world know it. "This is where I exit." Rhodey said when they neared the great big fountain near the dressed up Caesar. He held out his hand and Tony shook it. "Tomorrow, don't be late." Rhodey reminded Tony, not releasing his hand.

"Yeah, you can count on it." Tony said.

"I'm serious!" Rhodey said. Tony just waved him off and finally Rhodey turned to Natasha. "See ya Nat. Try to make it on time, will you?" He told her.

Natasha hugged Rhodey like she always did, pulling away with a mischievous smile on her face. "No promises, Rhodey." She told him. Before he could say anything though she re-joined her brother and they started walking quickly away, both of them eager to get back home and back to their workshop. "Here, I don't want it." Natasha said, handing the award over to her brother.

Tony looked at it like a disease in his hand. "I don't want it either." He said childishly. He looked around for a place to deposit it and spotted the wannabe Caesar. As they walked by the man Tony pressed the award into his hand. "Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's. There you go." He said grandly.

Natasha chuckled as they walked away. "You're lucky Rhodey didn't see that. He's already mad at us for skipping the ceremony." She told her brother.

Tony shrugged a little. "He'll get over it, he always does. Especially with you flashing him smiles all the time." He said, smiling a bit.

Natasha smiled at that, giving her brother an actual real smile filled with affection and sisterly devotion. "Oh, was I smiling at him? I didn't notice." She said innocently, batting her eyelashes once like that would convince her brother of her innocence.

"Very funny, Nat." Tony said, rolling his eyes. He smiled though, like he was amused. Natasha's smile brightened a bit and she elbowed him playfully.

The Stark siblings had been best friends since the day Natasha was born. It had been an inevitable thing, especially with Tony's desperate want to protect his little sister from the sad childhood he'd gone, was going, through. He'd only been five back then and yet he'd already known just how messed up his family life was. So he tried to protect her. It didn't work but in the process, Tony became the one person Natasha could always rely on and vice versa. It was sad and it was something neither of them would ever acknowledge but it was there, floating in the back of their minds along with all their other repressed memories.

Their cars were waiting for them out front. Tony's, a shiny classic black car, and Natasha's, a sleek new sports car she just loved to speed in. Tony wouldn't be driving his, he'd be taking the jet back to their place in Malibu, but there was no way Natasha was going to miss a chance to drive her newest baby, even if the drive would be for four hours. Natasha nudged Tony as they approached their vehicles. "Look big brother, I've got men stalking me now." Natasha said with joking pride, nodding towards the highly attractive man standing beside her car.

Tony chuckled a bit. "Have fun little sister. Don't do anything 'til you get back to the house." He told her. That was his one rule, Natasha wasn't allowed to stop off at a motel or a hotel for a night with a guy. She had to get back home where she'd be _safe_. Or as safe as a Stark can get.

"Alright, see you in roughly five hours." Natasha told him before heading for her car. As she neared her car she smiled stunningly at the man, swaying her hips just the right amount as she walked. "Hey there, handsome. What can I do for you?" Natasha said pleasantly, flicking a lock of her long dark hair off her shoulder in the classic "hot female" way.

"Miss Stark, I'm Jack Hemingway from Vanity Fair. I was wondering if I could get an interview with you." The man said, smiling down at her. Natasha hated being shorter than average but she didn't let it show. Her explosive personality and confident ways made her seem larger than life.

"Don't you have a partner?" Natasha asked, remembering a few articles she'd read in the magazine that Jack and someone else had written.

Jack nodded and pointed over at her brother. "That's my partner there. She thought it would be a good idea to interview you two alone. You know, to make the interviews more personal." He told her. Natasha eyed the blonde talking to her brother, remembering a few not so kind words regarding her brother written by that woman. Tony caught her eye and winked, making Natasha smile. "So what do you say? Can I get an interview?" Jack asked.

Natasha turned back around, flipping her hair again. She took a step closer and placed her hands on him, one on his chest and the other on his shoulder. "Oh I'd love a private interview with you, Jack baby." She said smoothly, smiling charmingly up at him. She ran her hand over his chest, silently appreciating the nicely toned muscles beneath his shirt. "But, you see, I've got a four hour drive ahead of me and don't have time to sit down for an interview. So why don't you and me take a road trip back to my place? You can ask any questions you want in the way there." Natasha said slyly. Jack smiled at her and he looked very close to saying yes to her. Natasha grinned and stood on tiptoes, placing both hands on his chest. She leaned into him a bit, placing her face not far from his. "Come on Jack baby, it'll be fun. I can make private interviews _very _interesting." She said.

Natasha saw Jack's choice in his eyes before he even said it. "I suppose that'd be alright." He said, a slightly hungry look in his eyes as he stared down at her.

Stepping back, Natasha smiled while biting her lip. She let her eyes slowly roam over him and she could see his face flush slightly, more than likely with pleasure. "Come on." She told him, walking around to her side of her precious car. She had just gotten nestled into the driver's seat when she saw a head of blonde hair disappear into her brother's car. Huh. Apparently both of them were going to have a bit of fun tonight.


	2. Morning After (or is is midnight?)

Jack was asleep but Natasha was wide awake. Jack was holding her but Natasha wasn't the cuddling type when it came to one night stands. Slowly, without waking him, she slipped out of his unconscious embrace and made her way to her closet. It was organized but only because Pepper insisted upon it. Natasha didn't actually care about cleanliness but you did _not _go against Pepper Potts when it came to image.

Careful not to wake Jack, Natasha grabbed a change of clothes and headed to her bathroom. She took a quick shower, making sure to scrub herself clean of any sign of her most recent sexual exploit, before changing. It was a simple outfit consisting of a pair of torn up jeans, a sports bra and one of Tony's old grey undershirts that could have passed for a wife beater if it was white. They were the only things she could wear in the workshop and not epically ruin. Natasha grabbed her brush and quickly ran it through her slightly tangled hair before quickly escaping her room, heading straight downstairs.

Like always, Natasha dropped by the kitchen before heading to the workshop. She needed coffee and Tony needed it too. They may be able to go for days without eating or sleeping or seeing the light of day but they couldn't do any of that without coffee. "Hey Jarvis." Natasha said as she poured her brother and herself hug cups of coffee.

_"Yes Miss Stark?"_ Jarvis replied immediately. Natasha smiled a little, remembering the Jarvis before Jarvis. He'd been human of course, their butler, and he'd taken care of the two Stark children more than their own parents. Which was exactly why Tony had named his first truly intelligent AI after him. Because no matter what the two Starks said, they did actually form attachments to people. Especially to people who had never lied to them and had tried to protect them from the world.

"Do you think we'll actually leave on time for the weapons presentation?" Natasha asked the AI, gathering the cups up in her hands.

Jarvis paused for a moment. _"I have utter faith in Miss Potts's ability to keep you on schedule." _He finally said.

Natasha chuckled as she walked down the steps to the workshop. "So no then." She said, smiling brightly to herself and to the AI.

Tony had yet to turn on music, knowing his sister would be along sooner or later with coffee. He wanted to hear her when she came in so he could get his cup of caffeine as soon as possible. He was running extremely low on caffeine and alcohol could only replace it for a short while. Jarvis didn't inform him when Natasha came through the workshop door without punching in the security code (she was the only one besides him who could do that) but he didn't need the alert. He jumped up from where he was working on one of his cars and rushed over, snatching his mug of coffee from her.

"Took you long enough." Tony said though he wasn't mad.

"Sorry, Mister Hemingway took a little longer than I thought he would to fall asleep." Natasha said, making her way over to one of her lovely little speed demons rather gracefully despite the millions of different things scattered over the floor.

Tony chuckled as he moved back to his own work. "I still can't believe you did a guy with the last way Hemingway." He said as if it was the most amusing thing in the world.

Natasha rolled her eyes, smiling. "Shut up Tony. At least I didn't do a chick who went to _Brown_." She said, over exaggerating her disgust for the college.

"Whatever." Tony said though his eyes twinkled with amusement. "Did he ever get that interview he wanted?" He asked.

"Nope." Natasha said proudly, shooting her brother a grin. Tony shook his head at her and grinned before turning back to his work. "Jarvis, turn on the work playlist will you?" Natasha said as she sat down in front of her car, careful not to spill her coffee.

"Yes Miss Stark." Jarvis said and soon the workshop was blaring with music, allowing the two geniuses to think more clearly.

There was no clock in the workshop so neither Stark ever knew how much time had passed. They could have checked, they could have pulled up a virtual clock at any point in time, but they didn't. It was a waste of time, pulling up a clock when they didn't even care what time it was. Both of them knew they had to get to the weapons demonstration but what was the point of leaving so early? Besides, Pepper always got there on time even when it seemed impossible.

Pepper's arrival was announced by the workshop door opening and the music being shut off. "Please don't turn down our music!" The Starks said simultaneously, not even looking up from their work.

"You two are supposed to be halfway around the world right now." Pepper told them.

"How'd she take it?" Tony asked. Of course he'd been alerted by Jarvis when Miss Brown had gone sniffing around their home looking for her one night stand.

"Like a champ." Pepper replied, used to Tony's random knowledge of everything by now.

Natasha cleared her throat, catching the ginger's attention. "Hey Pep, you didn't happen to see a guy wandering around up there did you?" She asked.

Pepper sighed deeply. "Natasha, you too?" She asked, sounding a little tired. Natasha didn't blame her. They were always having one night stands and Pepper was always the one sending them on their way. It was always a bit more difficult with Natasha's one night stands. With Tony's Pepper could be as sassy as she wanted but with Natasha's she had to be reasonably polite. Guys were always a bit harder to get rid of than girls. That's why Tony always told her to be careful with who she brought home. He didn't want to get in a fistfight with a guy with anger issues who refused to let a one night stand be a one night stand. Natasha nodded, not at all sheepish but feeling at least a little bad. "No, I didn't see him. I'm assuming I'll have to usher him out before you leave?" Pepper said.

"Only if I or Tony can't deal with him Pep." Natasha assured their assistant. Well actually Pepper was more _Tony's _assistant, something that only mildly annoyed Natasha. She wanted her brother to hook up with the ginger but unfortunately Tony drew the line at employees, even ones he trusted and liked as much as Pepper.

"So why are you trying to hustle us out of here?" Tony asked as he worked on his car.

"Your flight was scheduled to leave an hour and a half ago." Pepper answered.

Natasha winced a little and pulled up a digital clock. Sure enough, Pepper was right. Hell, Pepper was always right when it came to schedules. Which meant they were in major trouble with Rhodey. Damn.

"It's funny." Tony said and Natasha let out a silent groan, sensing one of his snarky moments coming on. They were already on thin ice with Pepper, they didn't need to make it any thinner. If they did she'd make them actually do work. "I thought with it being my plane and all that it would just wait for us to get there." Tony said.

Pepper sighed and pressed her hand to her forehead. She'd had that headache for years now. It had started about a week into her job as their personal assistant and hadn't stopped since. "Guys I need to speak to you about a couple of things before I get you out the door." Pepper said, passing off the press to her forehead as her simply brushing her hair out of her face. Pepper sometimes forgot that the Starks paid a lot more attention to her than anyone else which meant they caught the little things she did.

"I mean doesn't it kind of defeat the whole purpose of having your own plane if it departs before you arrive?" Tony asked, as if Pepper hadn't spoke. He shifted around till he was facing her, sitting on the tire of his precious car.

"Larry called." Pepper said, ignoring him. "He's got another buyer for the Jackson Pollock in the wings. Do you want it? Yes or no?" Pepper asked.

Neither of the Starks were very into art, that had always been their mother's sort of thing, but they knew enough about it to be able to buy and sell works of art and make a profit out of it. "Is it a good representation of his Spring period?" Tony asked as he wiped grease off his hands.

"Um, no. The Springs was actually the neighborhood in East Hampton where he lived and worked not spring like the season." Pepper explained.

"So?" Tony asked.

"I think it's a fair example. I think it's incredibly overpriced." Pepper finished, knowing Tony didn't really care about the different definition of the word "spring."

Tony looked over at Natasha who smirked a little and nodded slightly. Tony turned back to Pepper. "We need it. Buy it. Store it." He told her, getting up. Pepper smiled and Natasha couldn't help smiling too, simply because there was actual affection for her brother in that smile. Usually when people smiled at Tony it was fake and that person wanted something from her brother. Pepper wasn't like that. She may want Tony to do his part of running the company but that was it. She never had any ulterior motives and she actually genuinely liked Tony. And Natasha of course but she liked Tony more simply because of attraction.

"Oh-kay." Pepper said, following after Tony who was smirking. Natasha followed after them, not wanting to miss anything. Especially since half of every decision was hers. "The MIT commencement speech-."

"Is in June." Tony said, cutting her off. "Please don't harangue us about stuff that's way, way, way down."

"Well they're haranguing me so I'm gonna say yes." Pepper said.

"Deflect it and absorb it. Don't transmit it back to me." Tony told their assistant.

"I need you two to sign this before you get on the plane." Pepper said, rifling through papers.

"What, are you trying to get rid of us? What you got plans? Tony asked curiously.

Pepper stopped working for a second to stare at Tony. "As a matter of fact I do." She told him.

Tony's face became serious. "I don't like it when you have plans." He told her, his slightly light hearted tone contrasting with his expression.

"I'm allowed to have plans on my birthday." Pepper said.

Natasha immediately started humming the happy birthday song, watching the little interaction between her brother and the ginger with interest. Their interactions were always interesting and they usually ended with a light amount of flirting or a small little moment that Natasha always tried to let last as long as possible. Good thing neither one of them ever paid attention to her during these moments or she'd be toast. She was making little faces at them, mouthing what they should say and what they should do then cursing silently when they didn't do it.

"It's your birthday?" Tony asked.

"Yes." Pepper answered.

"I knew that." Tony lied. "Already?" He asked immediately after, looking confused. Natasha chuckled, her brother's perception of time was awful. Hers was too but at least she recognized the changing of a year. There was always that annoying New York countdown thing with the big disco ball.

"Yeah, isn't that strange? It's the same day as last year." Pepper said. Natasha chuckled again. Originally Pepper had lacked sass but after a few years with them she'd developed a hardcore level of badassness that showed up at random moments.

"Well get yourself something nice from me." Tony told her.

"I already did." Pepper answered.

"And?" Tony asked, smiling a bit.

"Oh it was very nice." Pepper said, smiling back. "Very tasteful. Thank you Mister Stark." She told him.

"You're welcome Miss Potts." Tony answered. Pepper smiled and Tony downed the small cup of coffee he had gotten from the fridge. "Okay." He said, handing it over to Pepper. He abruptly left the room, ruining the moment he had created with Pepper.

Natasha groaned, rolling her eyes. "Oh god he's so dumb!" She said almost mournfully, walking over to the ginger. "Why can't you two just get together already?!" Natasha said in a whiny tone.

Pepper's cheeks flushed a light red. A few years ago her whole face would have gone bright red but not anymore. Not after so many years of Natasha's teasing and perverted jokes. "We have a professional relationship only Natasha." Pepper told her calmly.

"No, no you do not. I refuse to believe it." Natasha said. Pepper chuckled a little, shaking her head, and headed for the door. "Please Pepper just date him already. I'd love it if you did." Natasha said, following after the ginger.

"Natasha I think that's enough." Pepper said though she was smiling a little.

"Oh no it isn't." Natasha said but decided to go ahead and shut up on the subject...for now. "Do you want a birthday bonus Pep? We give you one of those right? If we don't you get one. How's ten thousand sound? Ooo no, let's go with thirty thousand. You get an extra ten if you date my brother. Buuuut if you don't want a bonus you can pick out anything you want in any store and use one of our credit cards to pay for it." Natasha said, rambling.

"That's very kind Miss Stark but not neccissary." Pepper said.

Natasha frowned at being called "Miss Stark" and opened her mouth to reply but quickly shut it. Jack was standing in the living room in nothing but his boxers with Tony very nearly sneering up at him. Tony didn't glance at his sister when she walked over but he could tell how tense she was without looking. Whenever she saw him like this she was always ready to fight. Always ready to leap in and defend her older brother. That urge to fight with him had gotten her (and him) into a lot of trouble before but Tony didn't mind it. Not that much anyways.

The reporter, freaking Jack Hemingway, was giving him trouble. He'd asked about his partner and Tony had said that she'd already left. Then he got all mad and started saying stuff about having respect for women. You know, like the guy hadn't done Tony's sister last night after barely knowing her for five minutes. Tony was ready to punch the guy especially after the look he gave his sister as she walked over.

"Nat." Jack said, smiling.

"It's Natasha." Tony and Pepper said immediately, surprising each other and Natasha. None of them let their surprise show though, they were too good for that.

Jack looked mildly annoyed with Tony and that made Natasha frown in anger. "Jack, no offense but I've kinda got to run so if you could just scurry on out of here..." Natasha said, letting her voice trail off.

Jack frowned a little then smiled. "Alright, sure. Maybe we can do another private interview sometime." He said, shooting her a wink.

"Uh, no." Tony said abruptly. Jack shot him a small glare that made Natasha shoot her own glare at him. He looked at her in surprise, backing down a bit. Natasha was scary when she was angry. "Go get your clothes and get out. Miss Potts, see to it that he gets a rid wherever he likes so long as it's not here." Tony said, his tone implying that there would be no use arguing with him.

Luckily, Jack wasn't a total idiot. He left very quickly which gave Natasha plenty of time to take yet another show, fix her hair which she pulled up into a high ponytail, and get dressed in the attractive yet sophisticated and practical business suit Pepper had brought her. When she emerged from her room she looked ready to face anything though all she wanted was another cup of coffee and another seven days of nonstop work in their beloved workshop. Tony seemed to want the same thing cause he was frowning when he emerged from his own room, looking the poster boy for all billionaires.

"Hey Nat, mind if I take your car for a spin?" Tony asked as they walked back downstairs.

"You want to race Happy don't you?" Natasha asked knowingly.

Tony shot her his most charming smile, the one that barely worked on her. "Well? Can I?" He asked.

Natasha rolled her eyes at him. "Yeah, sure, whatever. But I'm riding with you, not Happy. I'm not letting you in my baby by yourself." She told him sternly.

"Yes mom." Tony said, rolling his eyes. Natasha shoved him playfully, grinning.

"Bye Pepper! By Jarvis! See you later!" Natasha called out as her and her brother left the house. Neither the AI or Pepper replied but she knew they were hoping for them to return safely. Not surprisingly, Happy was already waiting for them outside. Fortunately though so was Natasha's little speed demon thanks to her unwillingness to let her one night stand wander through the garage before reaching her bedroom. "Hey Happy, you up for a fun little challenge?" Natasha asked as she skipped happily over to him.

Happy looked uncertainly at her. "What sort of challenge?" He asked.

"Nothing big Happy." Natasha immediately said, knowing that was what he was most worried about. "Just a friendly race between you and my brother." She explained. Happy opened his mouth to say something, possibly to protest since he already had all their bags loaded up into the car, but Natasha didn't give him a chance to speak. "Magnifique!" Natasha exclaimed in French before joining her brother in her car. Tony gave her a disapproving look, holding up the keys he'd found still in the ignition. Natasha rolled her eyes at him and slid into her seat, shutting the car door as she did. "Well come on Tony! We have a weapons demonstration to get to!" Natasha said cheerfully.

"What did Happy say?" Tony asked, sticking the key back into the ignition.

Natasha grinned wickedly. "He didn't say anything." She informed her brother. Tony heard the mischievousness in her voice and smirked. With a turn of the key Natasha's baby roared to life and soon they were speeding down roadways, the purr of the engine and the wind rushing through their ears becoming the only things they could hear.


	3. Plane Ride

**Hi Lovelies! So I wrote a lot for you guys :D Once again, you have one person to thank for this. She was originally Avengerlicious but now she's Iron Zombie. Check her out guys. Oh and madscientistavenger too cause she's awesome. Alright, well, I hope you like these chapters. Don't kill me.**

Tony stopped abruptly just a little bit away from the jet, making Natasha laugh gleefully as she jerked forward in her seat. He smiled as Happy pulled up beside them and they both chuckled when they heard Happy's tires screech to a stop. They climbed quickly out of the car, both of them still laughing.

"You're good!" Tony told Happy, grinning away. "I thought I lost you back there." He said as he watched Happy grab their bags from his trunk.

"You did sir." Happy admitted as he gathered up the bags. "I had to cut across Mulholland."

"Ahhh, I gotchya. I gotchya." Tony said, still grinning.

Natasha clamped a hand down on Happy's shoulder as he walked by, walking with him as she did. "See, I told you it was going to be fun." She told him cheerfully which earned her a smile. Natasha smiled back before releasing him and falling into step beside her brother.

Rhodey was standing at the entrance to their jet, a not so happy look on his face. "What's wrong with you?" He asked them as the approached.

"What?" The siblings asked simultaneously, walking up to the jet.

"Three hours." Rhodey said, his voice laced with annoyance.

"We got caught doing a piece for Vanity Fair." Tony answered smoothly. Natasha stopped herself from snorting but she couldn't stop a wicked grin from appearing on her face. Tony shot her a sly smile and she couldn't help letting out a laugh.

"For three hours." Rhodey said, ignoring Tony's last comment though he did narrow his eyes at Natasha's grin. Natasha made sure to wipe it off her face as her and her brother bounded up the steps to their jet and Rhodey. "For three hours you had me standing here." Rhodey told them.

"Waiting on you now. Let's go. Come on." Tony said a little rudely, disappearing inside the jet.

Natasha shook her head, smiling, and pat Rhodey's arm as she walked by him. "Sorry Rhodey, lost track of time." She informed him before following her brother inside. She heard Rhodey sigh wearily and smirked before plopping down in her favorite seat. It was across the jet from Tony's usual seat, just far enough to give her some personal space but not far enough to really separate herself from her brother.

Tony made a show of sitting down in his seat. "Wheels up! Rock and roll!" He shouted to whoever was listening, as if he'd been waiting on them instead of the other way around.

For the longest time Rhodey refused to speak to them. Natasha figured he'd start talking a few minutes after takeoff but no such luck. He pulled out a newspaper and started reading it. Natasha shrugged, if he was going to be a jerk then let him, and looked at the flight monitor one of the stewardesses had turned on. After a while she noticed a stewardess laying out utensils on the table in front of her chair and turned to see another stewardess doing the same for Tony and Rhodey. When had Tony ordered food? Natasha blinked, had she spaced out? She looked back at the flight monitor and saw that they were now flying over water. Natasha shook her head, she needed to stop doing that. She needed to stop letting her thoughts take over so much. She'd miss the whole world getting blown up if she did.

"What you reading, platypus?" Tony finally asked Rhodey, breaking the silence. Natasha smiled at her brother, he never called Rhodey platypus unless he was truly sorry for whatever he'd done.

"Nothing." Rhodey answered immediately, not looking up at Tony.

"Come on, sour patch. Don't be mad." Tony said, using yet another one of Rhodey's nicknames.

"I'm not mad." Rhodey said emotionlessly.

Natasha snorted a little at that. "Not mad? Really Rhodey?" She asked, chuckling a bit.

"Yes, Nat, really." Rhodey said, turning the newspaper to the comics. "I'm _not_ mad. I'm indifferent." He said, finally looking up at them. He gave them a smile but it was one of those smiles you knew not to trust, an angry slightly disappointed smile.

"I said we were sorry." Tony said. Natasha hummed, trying to remember when he had done that. Probably when she'd spaced out.

"Good morning Mister Stark." A dark haired stewardess said when she approached Tony, a plate of hot towels in her hands.

"You don't need to apologize to me. I'm your man." Rhodey said. He looked over at Natasha while Tony quickly flirted with the stewardess. Natasha smiled at him, silently trying to tell him that she appreciated him always being on their side. He nodded a bit, though Natasha was sure he didn't exactly understand her smile, and turned back to Tony. "You don't respect yourself so I know you don't respect me." Rhodey said.

"I respect you." Tony said immediately. He turned to look at his sister, smiling a little at her. "I respect him don't I Tash?" He asked. Natasha smirked, he only ever called her Tash when he really wanted her to do something.

Natasha nodded after what seemed like an eternity to Tony and smiled brilliantly at Rhodey. "Of course he respects you Rhodey, we both do." She assured him.

Rhodey snorted a bit. "No, to you I'm just your babysitter." He said, clearly not believing them. "Thank you." He said absently, taking a hot towel from the stewardess.

"Actually that would probably be Happy." Natasha said, looking around the jet for the man. He wasn't there though and Natasha frowned. Had he gotten off before they departed? Eh, probably. The stewardess offered her a hot towel and she took it, smiling gratefully at the woman. The stewardess smiled back but Natasha couldn't help silently mourning the fact that Tony hadn't let her hire any hot guys to work on "his" jet. "And what was that about not respecting ourselves? How exactly does that work?" Natasha added, a bit annoyed.

"Hey! Heat up the sake, will you?" Tony asked one of the stewardesses, cutting off whatever reply Rhodey had planned on giving. "Thanks for reminding me." Tony said, glancing over at Rhodey.

"We're not drinking! We're working right now!" Rhodey said in protest.

"All work and no play makes the Starks very dangerous." Natasha said cheerfully, smiling mischievously as she did. Tony grinned at that. That had been their motto back when they were kids, back when people tried to tell them what to do. They'd say that then run off to do whatever they wanted. Unless it was Howard. The Stark siblings very rarely disobeyed Howard. "We need it Rhodey. It'll calm the pre-demonstration jitters!" Natasha told their friend.

Rhodey snorted a bit. "You two don't get jitters. Hell, I've never seen you nervous _ever_." He told them, sounding at least a bit amused.

Tony grinned and so did Natasha. "Now that's not true." Tony said, pointing at Rhodey.

"Isn't it? When have you ever been nervous?" Rhodey asked.

Tony didn't have an answer he was willing to give and, unfortunately, neither did Natasha. Luckily though they didn't have to answer. "Hot sake?" The stewardess asked, stopping their conversation.

"Yes, three if you don't mind." Natasha said though the stewardess wasn't looking at her.

"No, I'm not drinking." Rhodey said firmly.

Ten minutes later Rhodey was drunk and Tony had the stewardesses dancing around a pole in the middle of the jet. Natasha sulked in the back, drinking and reading a book that Pepper had left for her with a note that said "**Just in case Tony remembers the hot sake.**" The note just proved that Pepper was the right one for her brother but Natasha didn't dwell on it. The book actually was really good and she was quickly enthralled with it. She barely noticed it when they finally landed and she pouted the whole way to the demonstration sight, upset that she hadn't gotten to finish reading the book.


	4. Weapons Demonstration

_"Typical Stark flare. Just use typical Stark flare. Put on a cocky arrogant mask and play your damn part."_ Natasha thought as they stood in front of the soldiers who were waiting oh so patiently for the Stark siblings to begin. _"Dammit if Tony can do it so can you." _Natasha told herself sternly.

Tony looked over at his sister, knowing she hated dealing with small groups like this. She could talk in front of hundreds and put on a big show for the press and do one on one interviews but talking to a group of six or more? Yeah, Natasha didn't do too well with that for some odd reason. Despite all that though his sister nodded to him to begin, to get this over and done with as quick as possible. Tony stared at the military men watching them, keeping his expression perfectly calm. "Is it better to be feared or respected? I say, is it too much to ask for both?" Tony began. Calm, cool, collected. All things Natasha seriously wish she was right then. "With that in mind I would humbly like to present the crown jewel of Stark Industries' Freedom Line. It's the first missile system to incorporate our proprietary repulsor technology." Tony said.

"Stark Industries has been working on creating repulsor technology for the past fifteen years. Thanks to our brilliant team of technicians and scientists, and of course the perfection of Stark blueprints, we have managed to turn the impossible into a reality." Natasha said smoothly, taking up where her brother left off like she had been doing for years. The way she spoke, the way she acted, no one would have ever suspected she had been nervous just seconds before. Her easy way of speech was probably why she was referred to as a socialite instead of a party girl. Most part girls couldn't interact as "smoothly" as Natasha did. "Those who have doubted our abilities can not sit back in silence because we have done it. We have created the very best weapon." Natasha said.

"They say the best weapon is one you never have to fire." Tony said. It had never seemed unnerving to them, how easily the could follow each other without having ever practiced a single speech together. It was close to amazing. "We respectfully disagree. We prefer the weapon you only have to fire once. That's how dad did it, that's how America does it, and it's worked out pretty well so far." Tony said, managing to invoke a sense of pride in their nation without actually expressing any emotion.

Natasha flashed the soldiers an easy smile. "And it'll continue to work that way, won't it boys?" She asked them. A few smiled back, disarmed by her smile, but none of them responded. They weren't supposed to of course but that didn't mean Natasha still couldn't talk to them. Besides, she was known for being able to calm the nerves of anyone with just a smile and some words and these boys definitely looked like they needed to calm down a little. Even soldiers deserved a break.

"Find an excuse to let one of these off the chain and I personally guarantee you the bad guys won't even want to come out of their caves." Tony said, ignoring Natasha's comment as if it hadn't happened. Natasha smirked at that, finding it amusing. Tony waved his hand, signaling for the missile to be aimed. As the soldiers turned to watch Tony shot his sister a smirk and nudged her arm as if to say "see? I told you everything would be fine." Natasha smiled a bit before focusing on their missile. One fired, shooting off into the air out towards the mountains. Neither Natasha nor Tony allowed their eyes to follow it. "For your consideration, the Jericho." Tony said as they heard the missiles falling.

As the missiles exploded Tony lifted his arms up a bit in an arrogant presenting way. Natasha smiled and placed her hands on her hips, waiting. Suddenly they were pushed forward as a gust of wind and dirt hit them, undoubtedly caused by the explosions. The two Starks only stumbled a step forward but they quickly played it off as if it had never happened. Which in their opinions it hadn't. They immediately moved over to a large metal container near the missile and popped it open, revealing the very nice decent collection of champagne and scotch.

Tony plucked two scotches up and passed one quickly over to Natasha. "We'll be throwing in one of these with every purchase of five hundred million or more." Tony said, pointing at the case of alcohol. "To peace!" Tony said and tipped scotch down his throat. Natasha drank too despite his inappropriate toast and felt a million times better now that she had alcohol in her system again, even if it was only a little bit.

Suddenly Tony pulled his phone out of his pocket, answering the video call the second he could. Obadiah was there, lying on his bed. "Tony! Natasha!" Obie said in greeting. Natasha bit back the remark that was always on the tip of her tongue when Obadiah greeted them, "Our names are not a proper greeting Obadiah." He did that every single time they were on the phone together and Natasha couldn't stand it. Unfortunately her and Tony cared about Obadiah so she couldn't tell him off.

"Obie, what are you doing up?" Tony asked.

"Oh I couldn't sleep until I found out how it went. How'd it go?" Obadiah asked.

"It went great. Looks like it's gonna be an early Christmas." Tony answered as they walked towards a nearby Humvee.

"Yeah Obie, you might even get to retire early thanks to this one." Natasha said jokingly, smiling.

Obadiah grinned back at them from the tiny phone screen. "Hey! Way to go kiddos!" He said cheerfully, almost sounding proud. "I see you tomorrow, yeah?" Obadiah asked in confirmation.

"Why aren't you wearing the pajamas I bought you?" Tony asked. Natasha shot him an amused look, stopping as they reached the Humvee.

"Good night Tony. See you two tomorrow." Obadiah said flatly.

Tony closed his phone, effectively ending the call. Natasha smiled at her brother and nudged his arm. "You just love bugging him don't you?" She asked her brother jokingly.

"Of course." Tony answered, grinning away.

Natasha shook her head and climbed into the Humvee, nodding a thanks to the soldier who had opened the door for her. Tony climbed in beside her and the door was promptly shut behind him. He positioned himself so that he was comfortable and let Natasha slide into his seat with him. She didn't like sitting in the dead center of any vehicle and she especially didn't like sitting dead center in a vehicle with a bunch of strangers. So Tony was a good older brother and let her crowd his personal space so that she'd feel more comfortable. She'd done the same thing for him thousands of times after all so why not right?

"Hey Tony! Nat!" Rhodey called out to catch their attention, walking up to their window.

"I'm sorry, this is the 'fun-vee.' The 'hum-drum-vee' is back there." Tony stated. Natasha snorted slightly at that, nearly choking on a sip of scotch she had just taken. It wasn't exactly one of the funniest things Tony had ever said but to Natasha's slightly frayed nerves it was hilarious. It eased her up a bit even though the worst part was over. Now all she had to do was keep up the façade of interest until they got back onto the damn jet.

"Nice job." Rhodey said sincerely, ignoring Tony's comment.

Tony barely smiled while Natasha put on a stunning smile that she made sure Rhodey could see. "Thanks Rhodey." She told him, raising her glass slightly like she was toasting him. Rhodey nodded a bit, seeming a tad distracted.

"See you back at base." Tony said, finishing the conversation. Rhodey nodded again and walked off. Tony turned away but Natasha continued to stare out the window, her mind buzzing. Rhodey was worried, it was obvious, and Natasha knew exactly why. They were about to drive back through the hot zone where they could be attacked at any moment. Natasha tipped her head back and downed the rest of her drink, trying to ease that troubled feeling in her mind.


	5. Under Fire

The soldiers were dead silent and it was starting to make Natasha twitchy. They were worried and that worried her. She wanted more alcohol but there was none in the Humvee besides her brother's and she wasn't about to steal his. Tony noticed his sister's discomfort and decided to try and indirectly comfort her. "I feel like you're driving us to a court-martial. This is crazy. What did we do?" Tony asked with typical Stark bluntness. "I feel like you're going to pull over and snuff us. What, you're not allowed to talk?" He asked the soldiers. Tony looked over at the soldier beside them. "Hey, Forrest!" He said which made Natasha snort.

"We can talk, sir." The soldier answered. He was young, younger than both Starks. Natasha marveled at that. He wasn't even a truly experienced adult yet and yet he was out defending the nation. It was impressive, at least to her.

"Oh, I see. So it's personal?" Tony asked.

"No, you intimidate them." The soldier driving explained.

"Good God, you're a woman!" Tony said and Natasha chuckled. "I honestly, I couldn't have called that." He admitted.

Natasha chuckled. "First time for everything." She said, nudging her brother playfully.

Tony nudged her back, smiling slightly, but kept his eyes on the driver. "I mean, I'd apologize but isn't that what we're going for here?" He asked. The two male soldiers smiled at that and Natasha couldn't help smiling along with them. "I thought of you as a soldier first." Tony said.

"I'm an airman." The driver corrected.

"You have, actually, excellent bone structure, there. I'm kind of having a hard time not looking at you now. Is that weird?" Tony asked. Natasha smiled as the soldiers all laughed, her brother was amazing at relieving tension. He'd even got highly disciplined soldiers to loosen up. "Come on, it's okay, laugh." Tony said, encouraging them as he smiled.

"Sir, I have a question to ask." The soldier in the passenger seat said.

"Yes, please." Tony said, looking over at his sister. Natasha smiled brilliantly at him before snatching his glass. He frowned at her as she took a drink but didn't say anything as she handed it back.

"Is it true you went twelve for twelve with last year's Maxim cover models?" The soldier asked.

Natasha snorted, nearly choking on the scotch she had been swallowing. She started laughing, covering her mouth with her hand as she did. Tony struggled to keep a straight face at his sister's unladylike display and just managed it by answering the soldier's question. "That is an excellent question." He said, removing his sunglasses. "Yes and no. March and I had a scheduling conflict, but fortunately the Christmas cover was twins." He answered. Tony turned to his sister and nudged her. "Didn't you end up hooking up with a movie star that night?" He asked her playfully.

Natasha nodded, pulling herself together. "I did, I did. It was ummm something Evans. Chance? Christian? I don't know, something that started with a C." She said, shrugging nonchalantly.

"Is it true that you've been with a senator?" Passenger Soldier asked her

"Yes. I've also hooked up with the son of a very high up official at a charity benefit. We've kept in touch. We go out to eat when he's in town." Natasha answered smoothly. The second one had actually been the president's son, one of her most highly classed one night stands. He was actually rather charming, one of her best one night stands who didn't turn out to be a total ass.

"Anything else?" Tony asked, eager to move the conversation away from his sister's sex life. He knew it existed and he knew everyone knew about it but that didn't mean he felt comfortable talking about it. Tony turned his head and noticed the youngest soldier raising his hand. "You're kidding me with the hand up, right?" He asked.

The soldier paused for a second, looking nervous, but a quick smile from Natasha encouraged him to continue. "Is it cool if I take a picture with you two?" He asked, obviously a bit embarrassed.

"Yes, it's very cool." Tony answered and Natasha nodded her agreement.

The soldier's face lit up with a smile and he immediately pulled out a camera from one of the pockets on his uniform. He handed it to Passenger Soldier and leaned towards the two Starks who leaned towards him.

"I don't want to see this on your MySpace page." Tony said, sounding serious despite the fact that he was joking. Natasha lightly pinched his side, silently telling him to be nice. "Please, no gang signs." Tony said. The young soldier immediately put down the peace sign he'd been holding up, looking a tad embarrassed. Natasha pinched her brother's side a little harder, making him jump. "No, throw it up. I'm kidding." Tony said immediately, shooting his sister an annoyed look. The soldier grinned like a freakin' puppy and put his hand back up. "Yeah, peace. I love peace." Tony said, almost sarcastically. "We'd be out of a job with peace." He added, sending his sister a small smile.

Natasha chuckled at her brother while the soldier told his friend to hurry up with the picture. She was just turning to tell her brother something about peace when suddenly the Humvee in front of them exploded. Tony threw his arm up protectively in front of her as the driver slammed on the breaks, stopping Natasha from flying forward into the passenger seat. The second they were sitting back upright he wrapped his arm tightly around her waist, silently telling her not to panic despite his own shock and worry.

"What's going on?" Tony asked. None of the soldiers seemed to hear him though. "What have we got?!" He asked, this time a little louder. They gave no answer.

The driver got out of the Humvee, her gun ready, and was promptly shot down. Natasha couldn't stop the whimper that escaped her and she grabbed tightly onto her brother's jacket. "Jimmy, stay with the Starks!" Passenger Soldier shouted before getting out of the Humvee.

"Stay down!" Jimmy shouted, grabbing Natasha's shoulder and pushing her downwards so that her chest rested uncomfortably against her knees. Tony came down with her and they both stared out the front window, their eyes fixed on Passenger Soldier. There was a loud bang and suddenly the glass in front of Passenger Soldier broke. Tony let out a small fearful sound, jumping backwards. Natasha did too, leaning against her brother. She knew the soldier was dead, she couldn't see him behind the broken glass anymore. "Son of a bitch!" Jimmy shouted, cocking his gun. He started to climb out of the Humvee.

"Wait, wait, wait! Give me a gun!" Tony shouted after him, his words getting cut off slightly by Jimmy slamming the Humvee door.

"Stay here!" Jimmy shouted back through the glass.

Bullets suddenly littered the Humvee's side. Jimmy dropped, dead. Natasha screamed. Neither Stark heard the scream though as their ears started ringing. Tony looked out the window, looked for any sign that their side was winning. There wasn't one. He panicked. His grip on Natasha's waist tightened and suddenly he was pulling her out of the Humvee. She followed without question, like she'd been doing since they were kids. Her mind was telling her the same things over and over. _Trust Tony. Go with Tony. Big bro always knows what to do. He'll get you out of this. Trust Tony._

Tony started pulling his sister away from the Humvee and she followed as explosions sounded off around them. They started running and Natasha didn't stop until her brother threw her down behind a rock. He slipped on the ground and crawled to the spot beside her, leaning against the rock the second he was sitting upright. He pulled out his phone and started dialing Obadiah's phone number.

Something whizzed by them and slammed into the ground just a few feet away from them. The two Starks looked over and both of them instantly recognized the name on the side of the missile. Stark Enterprise. Their company.

Tony was on his feet in a nanosecond, his eyes fixated on the missile. He pulled his sister to her feet and threw her behind him just as the missile exploded.

Natasha didn't see the missile explode, her view blocked by her brother. She felt it though. She was blown back off her feet and slammed into the ground just a few feet farther back than her brother. Her head slammed into something sharp and suddenly everything was gone. The explosions, the burning sun, the sounds of bullets raining down around them. Everything blurred out of existence until Natasha was floating in blackness, completely unconscious.


	6. In a Cave

**Thanks to my aussie friends, I noticed my screw up. Sorry! :( Here's the actual sixth chappie. Crud, now you guy know a part of my Britta story. Eh, oh well. Sorry, again, sorry.**

Natasha woke up with a start, screaming for her brother. She looked around desperately for him in a panic, blurry memories rushing back to her as she did. The weapons demonstration. The explosions. Blacking out. Waking up again to her and her brother being filmed by men with guns. Being knocked out again as they started operating on her brother. Natasha felt panic bloom in her chest as she took in her surroundings. She was in a cave. _A_ _cave_. She felt herself start trembling and quickly shut down the panic building up in her, focusing on the task of finding her brother. When she spotted him lying on a bed not far away she started towards him.

Her legs gave out immediately. She collapsed to the floor, a small cry of pain escaping her. Natasha looked back at her legs and saw her right one wrapped half-hazardly up with fabric. It hurt but only dully compared to the rest of her body. Her back was aching terribly and her arms felt liked they'd been sliced and diced. Her head was pounding in a way that reminded her of the worst hangover she'd ever had, the one she'd gotten after almost drinking herself into a hospital bed after their parents died. Natasha groaned loudly and forced herself into a sitting position. She pressed her now scraped up hands to her forehead, trying to ease the pain.

"You're awake." Natasha gasped sharply at the suddenness of the voice and snapped her head up. Sitting not far away was a thin man in dirty clothes with librarian glasses on his face. He was watching her like she was a mundane cup of coffee sitting in front of him. "Not surprising. The first hit to the head was not severe, you more or less fainted, and the second was just enough to knock you out. Your head should be fine within a few hours or so, no concussion or long term damage." He told her.

Natasha blinked at him, her mind humming to life so it could process his words. Finally she nodded a bit, a small bit of relief washing over her as the promise of keeping her genius was given. "W-where am I?" She asked, looking around again.

The man stood and walked over to a mirror hanging nearby, swiping up a razor and some shaving cream as he did. "In a cave." He told her.

"No shit Sherlock." Natasha grumbled out, managing to summon some of the classic Stark attitude. She watched the man carefully as he started shaving his face. It was so incredibly strange, seeing something that normal happening in this completely not normal environment. "I mean, where exactly is this stupid cave?" Natasha asked.

The man didn't reply. He just continued to shave. Natasha continued to watch him, her still pounding head becoming quickly mesmerized by the simple actions. Soon her ears were filled with the annoying ringing sound that came with silence which was exactly why when she heard something clatter to the ground, breaking the silence, she practically jumped out of her skin. Natasha immediately turned to check on her brother and felt her lips break into a grin filled with unadulterated joy when she saw he was awake. Her eyes drifted to the ground where a cup was laying and did a mental "Oh" as she figured out that was what fell.

"Tony." Natasha said when her brother turned and spotted them.

"Nat." Tony practically coughed out. His eyes drifted away from her though as he spotted a jug of water nearby. He reached for it but as he did something on the other side of him moved, dragged along by him as he moved.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." The man said, pausing in his shaving to look back at Tony through the mirror.

Tony slowly turned to see what he had moved and his eyes instantly fell on a car battery. He followed the cables attached to it up to his chest and felt panic slowly rising up inside him. He started yanking at his clothes to get a better look and Natasha quickly got to her feet, worried about him. Her body ached and told her to stop moving but she ignored it, she'd been in worse pain. She carefully limped over to her brother and watched as he revealed a metal _thing _in his chest.

Tony started breathing heavily, letting out small panic filled gasps as he did. Natasha felt herself starting to shake again. If her brother was freaking out then this was bad. Very very bad. Tony noticed his sister's trembling and forced, literally had to _force_, down his panic. She needed him to be strong, to be brave. He had always been her rock when she needed him to be and she _definitely _needed him to be her rock now. Slowly he sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed, carefully moving the car battery attached to his chest along with him. Natasha managed to take it from him despite her shaking and lay it down on the ground so he didn't have to move. While she did that Tony grabbed a nearby square of mirror and started examining the thing in his chest through it.

"Are you okay?" Tony asked, his voice hoarse. Natasha nodded just a bit too quickly, not meeting his eyes, choosing to stare at the metal thing in his chest. "Tash." Tony said gently, imploringly. Natasha looked up at her brother, fear and panic evident in her eyes. "Are you okay?" Tony asked again.

"No." Natasha said quickly, just loud enough for him to hear.

"We're gonna be okay." Tony told her though he wasn't sure he believed his own words. It seemed to work though because Natasha nodded and gave him a very weak smile. Tony smiled a bit back at her before focusing his eyes on the man who was now making food. "What the hell did you do to me?" He asked the man.

The man looked over at him. "What I did?" He asked. He chuckled which made Natasha frown at him. "What I did is to save your life." The man said before going back to his cooking. "I removed all the shrapnel I could, but there's a lot left, and it's headed into your atrial septum." He explained.

Natasha felt her heart stop. She knew exactly what that meant. Her brother was dying. There was shrapnel moving through him, slowly killing him. Natasha looked down at her brother and wondered how much longer she had with him. How much longer her best friend in the whole world was going to last.

"Here, want to see?" The man said, picking up something from a nearby rock. He shook it and Natasha heard the telltale sound of bits of metal hitting glass. "I have a souvenir. Take a look." The man said, walking over. He tossed the little glass bottle over to Tony who instantly looked inside. Natasha looked too and she instantly felt the dull throb of growing hate enter her as she stared at the little bits of shrapnel. "I've seen many wounds like that in my village. We call them the walking dead because it takes about a week for the barbs to reach the vital organs." The man said as he went back to the fire.

"What is this?" Tony asked, referring to the thing in his chest.

"That is an electromagnet hooked up to a car battery and it's keeping the shrapnel from entering your heart." The man informed him.

Natasha felt a wave of unadulterated relief hit her. Tony was going to live. He wasn't being killed by shrapnel, he was living. He wasn't going to leave her. "Thank you." Natasha told the man without meaning to.

The man nodded in acknowledgment but didn't reply to her thanks. Tony didn't say anything either, didn't even rebuke her for saying thank you to a possible threat. He just zipped up the jacket he was wearing. His eyes wandered to the upper corner of the cave and Natasha's eyes followed his. High up there, focused on them, was a security camera. The man turned to see what they were looking at then turned back around when he realized what it was.

"That's right. Smile." The man said, confirming that yeah they were being watched. He stirred the food he was cooking for a second or two then glanced over at them. "I met you two once, you know, at a technical conference in Bern." He told them.

"I don't remember." Tony said, looking around the room.

Natasha shook her head. "Neither do I." She admitted.

"No, you wouldn't." The man said, laughing. He had a nice laugh. It was warm and it actually comforted Natasha a bit. "If I had been as drunk as you two, I wouldn't have been able to stand much less give a lecture on integrated circuits." He informed them.

"Where are we?" Tony asked, uninterested in the past when considering their present.

The man looked ready to answer and not give the answer he gave Natasha but then the sound of metal hitting metal sounded off and a man yelled in some language. The man immediately stopped cooking and rushed over to Tony. "Come on, stand up. Stand up!" He ordered, pulling Tony to his feet. "Both of you, just do as I do." He told them, his voice harsh with authority that told them not to question him. "Come on, put your hands up." The man said as he pulled Tony along and pushed Natasha to the spot he wanted her at.

The Starks did as they were told, a little too stunned to do anything else, as men came into the cave through two metal doors. "Those are our guns. How did they our guns?" Tony asked, voicing what Natasha was thinking as they stared at the weapons.

"Do you understand me? Do as I do." The man said harshly. Which basically meant he wanted them both to say silent.

Neither Tony or Natasha got to say anything as a man started talking. Natasha eyed him hatefully. He was heavy set and gave off the vibe that came with having a huge ego. Natasha hated him more than she had ever hated anyone in that moment and that was saying a whole helluva lot. He continued to talk as he approached them and when he finally stopped he was less than ten feet from them.

"He says, 'Welcome, Tony and Natasha Stark, the most famous mass murderers in the history of America.'" Bern man translated for them. The terrorist, he had to be a terrorist, said something else. "He is honored." Natasha had to fight the urge to punch the terrorist in the face. The terrorist spoke again, this time showing them a picture in his hands. "He wants you to build the missile. The Jericho missile that you demonstrated." The terrorist said something and held out the photo. Their translator took it and held it out for them to see. "This one." He said, showing them it.

Natasha stared down at the picture of the Jericho missile and felt fury and hate and every bad emotion imaginable spark inside her. She looked towards her brother who immediately felt her gaze and looked up at her. They stared at each other for a minute, having a conversation based purely on the emotions only they could see on each other's faces. Finally they both turned away and looked towards the terrorist.

"We refuse." Tony said resolutely.

The man translated.

**Did you like the chapters? I worked hard on them for you :3 Anyways, hope you all have a lovely whatever day it is wherever you are. Sleep tight tonight sweeties!**

**P.S. next chapter's gonna be short but then I'll have another giant splash of thousands of chapters for you guys again. Deal?**


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